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Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn": A Discussion Guide
Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn": A Discussion Guide
Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn": A Discussion Guide
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Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn": A Discussion Guide

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I have read, studied and taught Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” many times at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, and I wish to pass on what I have learned to other people who are interested in studying Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” In particular, I think that the readers of this question-and-answer guide to Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” will be teachers who will be teaching this novel. This discussion guide will give teachers discussion questions to use in class as well as topics for student papers, both long and short.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherDavid Bruce
Release dateAug 23, 2013
ISBN9781301492954
Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn": A Discussion Guide
Author

David Bruce

I would like to see my retellings of classic literature used in schools, so I give permission to the country of Finland (and all other countries) to give copies of my eBooks to all students and citizens forever. I also give permission to the state of Texas (and all other states) to give copies of my eBooks to all students forever. I also give permission to all teachers to give copies of my eBooks to all students forever.Teachers need not actually teach my retellings. Teachers are welcome to give students copies of my eBooks as background material. For example, if they are teaching Homer’s “Iliad” and “Odyssey,” teachers are welcome to give students copies of my “Virgil’s ‘Aeneid’: A Retelling in Prose” and tell students, “Here’s another ancient epic you may want to read in your spare time.”Do you know a language other than English? I give you permission to translate any of my retellings of classic literature, copyright your translation in your name, publish or self-publish your translation (but do say it's a translation of something I wrote), and keep all the royalties for yourself.Libraries, download my books free. This is from Smashwords' FAQ section:"Does Smashwords distribute to libraries?"Yes! We have two methods of distributing to libraries: 1. Via library aggregators. Library aggregators, such as OverDrive and Baker & Taylor's Axis360 service, allow libraries to purchase books. Smashwords is working with multiple library aggregators, and is in the process of signing up additional aggregators. 2. On August 7, 2012, Smashwords announced Library Direct. This distribution option allows libraries and library networks to acquire and host Smashwords ebooks on their own servers. This option is only available to libraries who place large "opening collection" orders, typically in the range of $20,000-$50,000, and the libraries must have the ability to host and manage the books, and apply industry-standard DRM to manage one-checkout-at-a-time borrows."David Bruce is a retired anecdote columnist at "The Athens News" in Athens, Ohio. He has also retired from teaching English and philosophy at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.SOME BOOKS BY DAVID BRUCERetellings of a Classic Work of Literature:Arden of Favorsham: A RetellingBen Jonson’s The Alchemist: A RetellingBen Jonson’s The Arraignment, or Poetaster: A RetellingBen Jonson’s Bartholomew Fair: A RetellingBen Jonson’s The Case is Altered: A RetellingBen Jonson’s Catiline’s Conspiracy: A RetellingBen Jonson’s The Devil is an Ass: A RetellingBen Jonson’s Epicene: A RetellingBen Jonson’s Every Man in His Humor: A RetellingBen Jonson’s Every Man Out of His Humor: A RetellingBen Jonson’s The Fountain of Self-Love, or Cynthia’s Revels: A RetellingBen Jonson’s The Magnetic Lady: A RetellingBen Jonson’s The New Inn: A RetellingBen Jonson’s Sejanus' Fall: A RetellingBen Jonson’s The Staple of News: A RetellingBen Jonson’s A Tale of a Tub: A RetellingBen Jonson’s Volpone, or the Fox: A RetellingChristopher Marlowe’s Complete Plays: RetellingsChristopher Marlowe’s Dido, Queen of Carthage: A RetellingChristopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus: Retellings of the 1604 A-Text and of the 1616 B-TextChristopher Marlowe’s Edward II: A RetellingChristopher Marlowe’s The Massacre at Paris: A RetellingChristopher Marlowe’s The Rich Jew of Malta: A RetellingChristopher Marlowe’s Tamburlaine, Parts 1 and 2: RetellingsDante’s Divine Comedy: A Retelling in ProseDante’s Inferno: A Retelling in ProseDante’s Purgatory: A Retelling in ProseDante’s Paradise: A Retelling in ProseThe Famous Victories of Henry V: A RetellingFrom the Iliad to the Odyssey: A Retelling in Prose of Quintus of Smyrna’s PosthomericaGeorge Chapman, Ben Jonson, and John Marston’s Eastward Ho! A RetellingGeorge Peele: Five Plays Retold in Modern EnglishGeorge Peele’s The Arraignment of Paris: A RetellingGeorge Peele’s The Battle of Alcazar: A RetellingGeorge Peele’s David and Bathsheba, and the Tragedy of Absalom: A RetellingGeorge Peele’s Edward I: A RetellingGeorge Peele’s The Old Wives’ Tale: A RetellingGeorge-A-Greene, The Pinner of Wakefield: A RetellingThe History of King Leir: A RetellingHomer’s Iliad: A Retelling in ProseHomer’s Odyssey: A Retelling in ProseJason and the Argonauts: A Retelling in Prose of Apollonius of Rhodes’ ArgonauticaThe Jests of George Peele: A RetellingJohn Ford: Eight Plays Translated into Modern EnglishJohn Ford’s The Broken Heart: A RetellingJohn Ford’s The Fancies, Chaste and Noble: A RetellingJohn Ford’s The Lady’s Trial: A RetellingJohn Ford’s The Lover’s Melancholy: A RetellingJohn Ford’s Love’s Sacrifice: A RetellingJohn Ford’s Perkin Warbeck: A RetellingJohn Ford’s The Queen: A RetellingJohn Ford’s ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore: A RetellingJohn Lyly's Campaspe: A RetellingJohn Lyly's Endymion, the Man in the Moon: A RetellingJohn Lyly's Gallathea, aka Galathea, aka Galatea: A RetellingJohn Lyly's Love's Metamorphosis: A RetellingJohn Lyly's Midas: A RetellingJohn Lyly's Mother Bombie: A RetellingJohn Lyly's Sappho and Phao: A RetellingJohn Lyly's The Woman in the Moon: A RetellingJohn Webster’s The White Devil: A RetellingJ.W. Gent.'s The Valiant Scot: A RetellingKing Edward III: A RetellingMankind: A Medieval Morality Play (A Retelling)Margaret Cavendish's The Unnatural Tragedy: A RetellingThe Merry Devil of Edmonton: A RetellingRobert Greene’s Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay: A RetellingThe Taming of a Shrew: A RetellingTarlton’s Jests: A RetellingThomas Middleton and Thomas Dekker’s The Roaring Girl: A RetellingThomas Middleton and William Rowley’s The Changeling: A RetellingThomas Middleton's A Chaste Maid in Cheapside: A RetellingThomas Middleton's Women Beware Women: A RetellingThe Trojan War and Its Aftermath: Four Ancient Epic PoemsVirgil’s Aeneid: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s 5 Late Romances: Retellings in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s 10 Histories: Retellings in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s 11 Tragedies: Retellings in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s 12 Comedies: Retellings in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s 38 Plays: Retellings in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s 1 Henry IV, aka Henry IV, Part 1: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s 2 Henry IV, aka Henry IV, Part 2: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s 1 Henry VI, aka Henry VI, Part 1: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s 2 Henry VI, aka Henry VI, Part 2: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s 3 Henry VI, aka Henry VI, Part 3: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s All’s Well that Ends Well: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s As You Like It: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Coriolanus: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Cymbeline: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Hamlet: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Henry V: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Henry VIII: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s King John: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s King Lear: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Love’s Labor’s Lost: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Macbeth: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Othello: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Pericles, Prince of Tyre: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Richard II: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Richard III: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s The Tempest: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s The Two Gentlemen of Verona: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s The Two Noble Kinsmen: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale: A Retelling in ProseChildren’s Biography:Nadia Comaneci: Perfect TenAnecdote Collections:250 Anecdotes About Music250 Anecdotes About Opera250 Anecdotes About Religion250 Anecdotes About Religion: Volume 2Be a Work of Art: 250 Anecdotes and StoriesThe Coolest People in Art: 250 AnecdotesThe Coolest People in the Arts: 250 AnecdotesThe Coolest People in Books: 250 AnecdotesThe Coolest People in Comedy: 250 AnecdotesCreate, Then Take a Break: 250 AnecdotesDon’t Fear the Reaper: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Art: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Books: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Books, Volume 2: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Books, Volume 3: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Comedy: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Dance: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Families: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Families, Volume 2: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Families, Volume 3: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Families, Volume 4: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Families, Volume 5: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Families, Volume 6: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Movies: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Music: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Music, Volume 2: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Music, Volume 3: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Neighborhoods: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Relationships: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Sports: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Sports, Volume 2: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Television and Radio: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Theater: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People Who Live Life: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People Who Live Life, Volume 2: 250 AnecdotesMaximum Cool: 250 AnecdotesThe Most Interesting People in Movies: 250 AnecdotesThe Most Interesting People in Politics and History: 250 AnecdotesThe Most Interesting People in Politics and History, Volume 2: 250 AnecdotesThe Most Interesting People in Politics and History, Volume 3: 250 AnecdotesThe Most Interesting People in Religion: 250 AnecdotesThe Most Interesting People in Sports: 250 AnecdotesThe Most Interesting People Who Live Life: 250 AnecdotesThe Most Interesting People Who Live Life, Volume 2: 250 AnecdotesReality is Fabulous: 250 Anecdotes and StoriesResist Psychic Death: 250 AnecdotesSeize the Day: 250 Anecdotes and StoriesKindest People Series:The Kindest People Who Do Good Deeds: Volume 1The Kindest People Who Do Good Deeds: Volume 2The Kindest People Who Do Good Deeds: Volume 3Discussion Guide Series:Dante’s Inferno: A Discussion GuideDante’s Paradise: A Discussion GuideDante’s Purgatory: A Discussion GuideForrest Carter’s The Education of Little Tree: A Discussion GuideHomer’s Iliad: A Discussion GuideHomer’s Odyssey: A Discussion GuideJane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice: A Discussion GuideJerry Spinelli’s Maniac Magee: A Discussion GuideJerry Spinelli’s Stargirl: A Discussion GuideJonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal”: A Discussion GuideLloyd Alexander’s The Black Cauldron: A Discussion GuideLloyd Alexander’s The Book of Three: A Discussion GuideMark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: A Discussion GuideMark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: A Discussion GuideMark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court: A Discussion GuideMark Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper: A Discussion GuideNancy Garden’s Annie on My Mind: A Discussion GuideNicholas Sparks’ A Walk to Remember: A Discussion GuideVirgil’s Aeneid: A Discussion GuideVirgil’s “The Fall of Troy”: A Discussion GuideVoltaire’s Candide: A Discussion GuideWilliam Shakespeare’s 1 Henry IV: A Discussion GuideWilliam Shakespeare’s Macbeth: A Discussion GuideWilliam Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Discussion GuideWilliam Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet: A Discussion GuideWilliam Sleator’s Oddballs: A Discussion GuideComposition Projects:Composition Project: Writing an Autobiographical EssayComposition Project: Writing a Hero-of-Human-Rights EssayComposition Project: Writing a Problem-Solving LetterTeaching:How to Teach the Autobiographical Essay Composition Project in 9 ClassesAutobiography (of sorts):My Life and Hard Times, or Down and Out in Athens, OhioMiscellaneous:Mark Twain Anecdotes and QuotesProblem-Solving 101: Can You Solve the Problem?Why I Support Same-Sex Civil MarriageBlogs:https://davidbruceblog429065578.wordpress.comhttps://davidbrucebooks.blogspot.comhttps://davidbruceblog4.wordpress.comhttps://bruceb22.wixsite.com/website

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    Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" - David Bruce

    CHAPTER 1: I DISCOVER MOSES AND THE BULRUSHERS

    Why do you suppose Mark Twain chose Huckleberry Finn as the name of the protagonist in this novel?

    Huckleberry and fin (as in a fish’s fin) are words associated with nature rather than civilization.

    In addition, Finn is an Irish name, so Huckleberry’s father may be an Irish drunk.

    What is a protagonist?

    A protagonist is the major character in a work of fiction. In this novel, Huckleberry Finn is the major character and so he is the protagonist.

    Compare and contrast the widow Douglas and Miss Watson.

    Similarities

    The two women are similar in that they are related, they are white middle-class women, and they are civilized. Apparently, both women are slave-owners. Miss Watson owns Jim, but more slaves than Jim are in the household. On p. 4, we read: By and by they fetched the niggers in and had prayers, and then everybody was off to bed.

    Both women are religious. The widow Douglas prays over their meals (Huck thinks that she is grumbling about the food). She also teaches Huck about Moses and the Bulrushers.

    Differences

    The widow Douglas is much gentler than her sister, Miss Watson.

    Miss Watson is an old maid, while the widow Douglas is — of course — a widow.

    What is Huck’s opinion of civilization?

    On pp. 1-2, we read what Huckleberry (the narrator of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn), says about Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer:

    Now the way that the book winds up, is this: Tom and me found the money that the robbers hid in the cave, and it made us rich. We got six thousand dollars apiece — all gold. It was an awful sight of money when it was piled up. Well, Judge Thatcher, he took it and put it out at interest, and it fetched us a dollar a day apiece all the year round — more than a body could tell what to do with. The widow Douglas she took me for her son, and allowed she would sivilize me; but it was rough living in the house all the time, considering how dismal regular and decent the widow was in all her ways; and so when I couldn’t stand it no longer I lit out. I got into my old rags and my sugar hogshead again, and was free and satisfied. But Tom Sawyer he hunted me up and said he was going to start a band of robbers, and I might join if I would go back to the widow and be respectable. So I went back.

    Even after Huck goes back, he doesn’t like it. On p. 2, we read:

    She put me in them new clothes again, and I couldn’t do nothing but sweat and sweat, and feel all cramped up. Well, then, the old thing commenced again. The widow rung a bell for supper, and you had to come to time. When you got to the table you couldn’t go right to eating, but you had to wait for the widow to tuck down her head and grumble a little over the victuals, though there warn’t really anything the matter with them. That is, nothing only everything was cooked by itself. In a barrel of odds and ends it is different; things get mixed up, and the juice kind of swaps around, and the things go better.

    Basically, Huck doesn’t like being civilized. He strongly prefers to be free. He wants to be able to swear, to smoke, and to scratch where it itches. Even though he goes back to the Widow Douglas, he finds it very uncomfortable — partly because of Miss Watson. On p. 3, we read:

    Her sister, Miss Watson, a tolerable slim old maid, with goggles on, had just come to live with her, and took a set at me now with a spelling-book. She worked me middling hard for about an hour, and then the widow made her ease up. I couldn’t stood it much longer. Then for an hour it was deadly dull, and I was fidgety. Miss Watson would say, Don’t put your feet up there, Huckleberry, and Don’t scrunch up like that, Huckleberry — set up straight; and pretty soon she would say, Don’t gap and stretch like that, Huckleberry — why don’t you try to behave?

    When Huck wants to be free, he lives in a hogshead. What is a hogshead? How do you suppose Huck gets his food when he lives on his own?

    A hogshead is a large barrel. Thus, a sugar hogshead is a large barrel in which sugar was kept.

    To get food, Huck:

    • fishes

    • hunts

    • steals

    • begs (probably)

    • eats with Uncle Jake, a black slave (we find this out in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer)

    Why does the widow Douglas grumble over the food before Huck can eat? Does Huck, as the narrator of this book, always know what he is relating to the reader?

    Of course, the widow Douglas isn’t grumbling about the food. She is praying.

    In this novel, Huck serves as the narrator. He is a naïve narrator, which means that he doesn’t always understand what he is seeing and reporting on.

    What is the difference between an omniscient narrator and a naive narrator?

    The first-person narration of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is different from the omniscient narration of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. With an omniscient narrator, the reader can learn an awful lot, including what various characters are thinking. With first-person narration, the reader learns only the thoughts of the character who is narrating the work of art.

    CHAPTER 2: OUR GANG’S DARK OATH

    Compare Tom Sawyer’s knowledge of ransoms in the beginning of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to his knowledge of ransoms in the ending of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

    The main way in which Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is inconsistent with the ending of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is that Tom no longer knows what the word ransom means.

    On p. 244 of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, we read (Huck asks a question, and Tom answers):

    What’s a ransom?

    Money. You make them raise all they can, off’n their friends; and after you’ve kept them a year, if it ain’t raised then you kill them. That’s the general way. Only you don’t kill the women. You shut up the women, but you don’t kill them. They’re always beautiful and rich, and awfully scared. You take their watches and things, but you always take your hat off and talk polite. They ain’t anybody as polite as robbers — you’ll see that in any book. Well the women get to loving you, and after they’ve been in the cave a week or two weeks they stop crying and after that you couldn’t get them to leave. If you drove them out they’d turn right around and come back. It’s so in all the books.

    However, in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Tom doesn’t know what a ransom is. On pp. 10-11, we read (in Ch. 2):

    Ransomed? What’s that?

    I don’t know. But that’s what they do. I’ve seen it in books; and so of course that’s what we’ve got to do.

    But how can we do it if we don’t know what it is?

    "Why, blame it all, we’ve got to do it. Don’t I tell you it’s in the books? Do you want to go to doing different from what’s in the books, and get things all muddled up?"

    "Oh, that’s all very fine to say, Tom Sawyer, but how in the nation are these fellows going to be ransomed if we don’t know how to do it to them? That’s the thing I want to get at. Now, what do you reckon it is?"

    Well, I don’t know. But per’aps if we keep them till they’re ransomed, it means that we keep them till they’re dead.

    Tom is ignorant. He doesn’t know the difference between burglary and robbery, although he thinks he does. On p. 10, he says,

    Stuff! stealing cattle and such things ain’t robbery; it’s burglary, says Tom Sawyer. We ain’t burglars. That ain’t no sort of style. We are highwaymen. We stop stages and carriages on the road, with masks on, and kill the people and take their watches and money.

    Of course, burglars enter a house to steal stuff. Tom doesn’t know the difference between burglary and robbery.

    Who is the voice of reason in Ch. 2?

    Ben Rogers is. He calls into question many of Tom’s Romantic notions concerning robbers and the people they question.

    Write a character analysis of Jim based on Ch. 2.

    Jim is a slave.

    This is the main fact about Jim.

    Jim has a job to do.

    Of course, Jim is a slave, but he does his duty or at least tries to do it. Tom and Huck are sneaking around outside, and Huck trips over a root, making a sound. Jim hears the sound and says, Who dah? (6). Next he says that he will sit down and wait until he hears the sound again. However, he falls asleep, so he doesn’t do his duty very well.

    Jim is superstitious.

    No one can doubt this. Tom takes three candles and leaves five cents for pay. (Tom has lots of money because of the treasure he found in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.) Jim takes the money and regards the five-cent piece as a supernatural object. He says that he was bewitched and witches rode him and the devil gave him the five-cent piece with his own hands. Each time Jim tells the story, he adds to it. First, he says that the witches rode him all over the state, and then he says that they rode him to New Orleans, and then he says that they rode him all over the world.

    Jim has the human failing of pride.

    On account of being rode by witches, Jim becomes proud. Huck writes, Jim was monstrous proud about it, and he got so he wouldn’t hardly notice the other niggers (7).

    Huck also writes, Jim was most ruined, for a servant, because he got stuck up on account of having seen the devil and been rode by witches (8).

    Jim is a bit of a con artist.

    Jim also says that the five-cent piece is a charm that was given to him by the Devil. As a charm, he can do two things with it:

    1) Cure people.

    2) Call witches by saying a few words to it.

    These two things make me think that Jim is a bit of a con artist. Certainly, no five-cent piece will do these things, and Jim should know that. He might not want to call witches, but he would want to cure people of illness. A few attempts at curing people should show that the five-cent piece is not a charm. On the other hand, such things as placebos work wonders, so perhaps the five-cent piece does cure people.

    What is Huck’s attitude toward slavery in this chapter?

    His attitude is that it is something to be taken totally for granted. Huck doesn’t even think about slavery. He doesn’t question it. To him, slavery is normal and natural and is not to be questioned. There is absolutely nothing in this chapter to show that he thinks that slavery is wrong.

    That questioning attitude will come later, and even then, Huck thinks that Southern society is right about slavery and he is wrong to question it.

    Compare Tom and Huck as they are depicted in this chapter.

    Tom is intrepid; Huck is cautious.

    Intrepid means resolutely courageous, fearless.

    Tom is brave and is always looking for an adventure, while Huck is by nature cautious. For example, Tom thinks that they need more candles, so he goes into the widow Douglas’ kitchen to get some (he leaves a nickel as payment). Huck didn’t want him to do it. On p. 7, we read: I [Huck] didn’t want him to try. I said Jim might wake up and come.

    Next, Tom wants to play a joke on Jim. Once again, Huck doesn’t want to do it — he’s in a sweat to leave — but Tom takes Jim’s hat and hangs it on a limb of the tree.

    Tom is a leader; Huck is a follower.

    The band of robbers is Tom Sawyer’s Gang. Tom as usual is a leader, while Huck is a follower.

    Tom is definitely in charge in this chapter. He has arranged for the boys to meet, and he is elected First Captain of the Gang. (Joe Harper is elected Second Captain.) Huck is simply a regular member of the Gang; he is not an officer. In this chapter, Huck follows Tom’s lead.

    Tom is literate; Huck is illiterate.

    Huck is illiterate. He has to sign his name by making a mark. (Later, he goes to school and learns to read and to write a little.)

    Tom, however, is literate. Tom has read a number of adventure stories, and he believes what they say. Huck, on the other hand, has read no books. Tom makes up the oath of the Gang. Part of the oath is based on his memories of what he has read in robber books, and part is out of his own imagination.

    Tom has a family; Huck does not really have a family.

    The boys decide that as members of the Gang that they ought to kill the families of the boys who tell the Gang’s secrets. This is fine for Tom, because they can kill his Aunt Polly, but Huck doesn’t have anyone to kill because his Pap probably will not come around again. Fortunately, Huck offers to let the other boys kill Miss Watson. That is acceptable, and Huck becomes a member of the Gang.

    CHAPTER 3: WE AMBUSCADE THE ARABS

    What do you suppose are the differences between the widow Douglas’s version of Heaven and Miss Watson’s version of Heaven?

    Widow Douglas’s Version

    Both are religious, of course, but the widow’s version of heaven seems better than Miss Watson’s. On p. 14 (Ch. 3), we read:

    Sometimes the widow would take me one side and talk about Providence in a way to make a body’s mouth water; but maybe next day Miss Watson would take hold and knock it all down again. I judged I could see that there was two Providences, and a poor chap would stand considerable show with the widow’s Providence, but if Miss Watson’s got him there warn’t no help for him any more.

    Miss Watson’s Version

    Of course, Miss Watson’s version of heaven is not like the widow Douglas’ version. According to Miss Watson (p. 4; Ch. 1):

    Now she had got a start, and she went on and told me all about the good place. She said all a body would have to do there was to go around all day long with a harp and sing, forever and ever. So I didn’t think much of it. But I never said so. I asked her if she reckoned Tom Sawyer would go there, and she said not by a considerable sight. I was glad about that, because I wanted him and me to be together.

    Miss Watson tells Huck that he can get anything he wants by praying for it, and Tom tells him that genies will do your bidding if you rub an old lamp or ring. What happens when Huck puts these ideas to the test? What does his putting these ideas to the test tell you about Huck?

    We learn that Huck is a person who uses experience to decide what is real.

    • Tom relies on adventure books to determine what is real.

    • The widow Douglas relies on the Bible to determine what is real.

    • Huck relies on his experience and on his five senses to determine what is real.

    Prayer

    When Huck hears that he can get what he wants by praying for it, he puts this idea to a test. He had a fishline, but he didn’t have any hooks, so he prayed for hooks. However, he didn’t get any hooks. This made him think about other people praying. If you always get what you pray for,

    • Miss Watson, who is skinny, ought to be able to fat up (13).

    • Deacon Winn should be able to get back the money he lost on pork.

    • The widow Douglas should be able to get back the silver snuff box that was stolen from her.

    Even after the widow Douglas explains that a person can get spiritual gifts by praying, Huck decides that he won’t bother to pray. After all, spiritual gifts mean not thinking about oneself but instead helping other people. Huck realizes that this is a very good deal for other people, but not such a good deal for himself.

    Genies

    Later, Tom tells Huck about genies. Huck asks how people get genies. Hearing that people get genies by rubbing on lamps or on iron rings, Huck tries it. He gets a tin lamp and an iron ring and rubs on them until he is sweating heavily, but no genies come. Because of that, he decides that Tom Sawyer is lying again. Tom may think that the caravan of A-rabs and elephants was transformed by magicians into a Sunday School picnic, but Huck says no. On p. 17, we read: I reckoned he believed in the A-rabs and the elephants, but as for me I think different. It had all the marks of a Sunday school.

    Which thinker is more logical: Tom or Huck? How do you know?

    Huck is the more logical thinker, as we see when Huck tests whether prayer works and when he tests the origin of genies. Other people, such as the widow Douglas and Tom Sawyer, believe books, but Huck trusts his own experience. If he tries something and it doesn’t work, then he is going to try something else and abandon the idea that didn’t work.

    Huck of course does not have a scientific outlook, but he is a believer in common sense — except for superstition. Huck is Realistic. He trusts his own experience more than he trusts book authorities. Huck is pragmatic.

    Pragmatic: Concerned with facts or actual events; practical.The American Heritage Dictionary.

    If you feel like doing research, find out what Don Quixote is. Why do you suppose that Twain has Tom mention that book?

    Don Quixote is one of the adventure books that Tom Sawyer reads. It is a masterpiece, and Tom Sawyer does not read it correctly. Don Quixote is the story of a don from La Mancha, who reads so many stories of wandering knights that he decides to become a wandering knight himself. Unfortunately, Don Quixote is deluded.

    You may be aware of the episode in which Don Quixote battles what he thinks are giants; they are actually windmills, and Don Quixote is defeated. Tom reads this book, and he believes the explanation that magicians enchanted the giants and turned them into windmills.

    The author of Don Quixote — Cervantes — and Twain have a lot in common. They both end up satirically mocking knights errant. Twain does that in his A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.

    What does the word ambuscade mean?

    Note: When referring to words as words, use quotation marks or italics.

    Huck is illiterate or semi-literate and doesn’t know many words. In ambuscade, he is confusing two words and putting them together in one word. Probably the words Huck means are ambush and barricade. And perhaps escapade.

    If you feel like doing research, find out what a portmanteau word is. Ambuscade is a portmanteau word.

    Huck’s confusing two words and putting them together creates a portmanteau word. A portmanteau word is a word that is created by putting parts of two words together. For example, the word brunch is created from the words breakfast and lunch and refers to a meal that is both breakfast and lunch. Another example is the word chocoholic, which is created from the words chocolate and alcoholic. A chocoholic is a person who is addicted to chocolate.

    The term portmanteau words was invented by Lewis Carroll. In Mr. Carroll’s book Through The Looking Glass, the character Humpty Dumpty explains:

    Well, ‘slithy’ means ‘lithe and slimy’. ‘Lithe’ is the same word as ‘active’. You see, it’s like a portmanteau — there are two meanings packed into one word.

    Note: The British put commas and periods outside quotation marks; Americans put commas and periods inside quotation marks.

    Another portmanteau word created by Mr. Carroll is chortle, which is created from the words chuckle and snort.

    A clever portmanteau word is anecdotage, which is created from anecdote and dotage. Probably all of us are familiar with old people who tell the same anecdotes over and over.

    Professional golfer Tiger Woods created the clever portmanteau word Cablinasian to explain his heritage:

    Caucasian

    Black

    Indian (Native American)

    Asian

    How does Huck react when he thinks that his father has been found dead in the Mississippi River? Why does he react that way?

    On p. 14, we read:

    Pap he hadn’t been seen for more than a year, and that was comfortable for me; I didn’t want to see him no more. He used to always whale me when he was sober and could get his hands on me; though I used to take to the woods most of the time when he was around.

    Huck doesn’t like his father, whom he calls Pap. Of course, he has good reason not to like his father. Pap is an alcoholic, and before his wife died, he and his wife used to fight all the time.

    Pap is also a child-beater. He used to whale Huck, which means he used to beat Huck. It’s no wonder that when Pap is around, Huck goes into the woods to avoid him.

    Huck is comfortable when he hears that his father was found drowned, but then he thinks that the drowned person was not his father, but was instead a woman dressed up in men’s clothing. He thinks that because the drowned person was found floating face up, and Huck thinks that a man is always found floating face down. (Apparently, women’s fatty breasts make them float face up, in Huck’s opinion.)

    Therefore, thinking that his father is alive, Huck writes, So I was uncomfortable again. I judged the old man would turn up again by and by, though I wished he wouldn’t (14).

    If you feel like doing research, define foreshadowing.

    The rumor about Pap and Huck’s thoughts about Pap, of course, are foreshadowing. We are being prepared for the return of Pap, who in fact shows up quickly.

    The 6th edition of A Handbook to Literature by C. Hugh Holman and William Harmon defines foreshadowing in this way: The presentation of material in a work in such a way that later events are prepared for (201).

    Here are a couple of other definitions:

    Foreshadowing is the use of hints or clues to suggest what will happen later in literature.

    Source: http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/lit_terms/foreshadowing.html

    Definition: A literary device used to hint at events that will follow later in the story, sometimes generating feelings of

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